Piles or Bowel Cancer? How to Differentiate?

Piles or Bowel Cancer?

We all have been hearing about Piles for long with different names, people and their stories. You would have seen it when traveling by Indian railways where you will see those ads painted in white usually on the back-side walls of the buildings or houses with, ‘PILES KA ILAAJ – BANGALI DAWAKHANA’ followed by the address. Well marketing and awareness has been there since long. Hemorrhoid or Piles has become a usual problem. We hate to call it a disease and prefer to call it a condition. Well it is not life-threatening but can be painful as hell. And it is requested to everyone not to ‘Google’ any symptoms otherwise you will end up having cancer along with a bunch of incurable diseases. It is better you go through this.

Piles

People these days feel embarrassed if they have Piles but actually, this is an aging process as some doctors call it. According to a study by Johnson JF and Sonnenberg A, done in 1990, there was approximately 4.4 percent of the population between the ages 46 to 65 with the condition of hemorrhoid in the United States alone. With more than 10 million cases of piles every year in India alone, it is not something that can be ignored that easily. We have to accept that awareness isn’t the only factor that plays a part in health issues but also how treatment happens, availability of doctors (not compounders/assistants who have an amazing ability to replace the doctor when required), the medicines available and what not need to be discussed. Well we don’t want to make this condition a grand one; it is just that the cases in India have been too many and as usual on the rise. As the world is changing, so is our body and this is nothing but a result of our lifestyle. Cases of lifestyle disorders are on a rise globally, be it diabetes or hemorrhoids.

Piles or hemorrhoids are inflamed or swollen area or veins around the anus. They can be internal or external i.e. inside the anus, outside it or right below the skin of the anus. The sizes are also different across people. It restricts daily movement and acts as an obstacle to the bowel movement and it becomes an actual pain in the ass for those having it. The worst thing is if the condition is Chronic as it may last years or your whole lifetime but most cases are treated within weeks.

The most common symptom of all apart from the discomfort you feel in Hemorrhoids is the bleeding. It is more often the blood over your stool so that’s your trigger or the warning bell. Other piles symptoms may include itching around the anus or the area, pain while you do your morning duty, soreness around anus, discharge of mucus during bowel movement.

Piles happen as in when the pressure on the lower rectum increases or because of excessive amount of stretching leading to inflammation in the area of the anus. Factors that lead to Piles are constipation, lifting very heavy weights by over doing it, pregnancy, straining your body while passing stool, ageing, genetics and unhealthy diet habits. But worry not as majority cases are of 40+ years of age.

From discomfort to the pain and sometimes your daily routine and productivity as a whole, Piles is a serious condition. Treatable in no time. A lot of these symptoms are seen in many other cases too. Sometimes they may be related to the normal wear and tear or something that requires a doctor’s immediate diagnosis.

Chemotherapy!

Did it make you a little uncomfortable? Well that’s the truth of our world.

Bowel Cancer

Now let’s throw some light on the not-so-discussed and infamous ‘Bowel Cancer’, also famously called ‘Colon Cancer’ or ‘Colorectal Cancer’. The impact of cancer a person (mentally or physically) can have is unfathomable. We don’t see ads on cancer treatment, do we? But the need of the hour is to save as many as we can and it is justified to call them survivors. Well it is important to differentiate between Piles/Hemorrhoids and Bowel Cancer. Both are very much related to the rectum or human excretory system as we know it since school and the symptoms are similar. Similar to the extent that you can actually have confusion about what the problem is. It is not just you but doctors get puzzled as well as they require imaging and pathology tests to be sure. The main cause of concern would be the fatality of bowel cancer.

According to the SEER and National Cancer Institute, USA it is estimated that there were around 1.31 million cases of colon and rectum cancer in 2014 in United States itself. The estimated deaths were around 15 people every 100,000 people per year. Well India is not far behind this close to a million cases per year. All these numbers if regressed and forecasted for the future will give rise to larger numbers as we lose this race against time. If you go through symptoms of colon cancer, some of them will again point out to the lifestyle. It is matter of concern as so many diseases are coming up because of lifestyle changes.

Colon cancer or bowel cancer is basically out of control or abnormal growth of cells in the colon or in the parts of large intestine (rectum) that starts invading other parts and organs of the body. Colon cancer has the following symptoms you need to look out for. Colon Cancer starts with polyps with dormant tumors but can turn into cancer. Pain in the abdominal region, pelvic region or rectum, rectal bleeding, loss of weight, weakness or fatigue, blood over your stool (that may be bright red or very dark), cramps in the abdominal region, gastric pains, loss of appetite, change in bowel movement or habits, constipation, feeling of a filled bowel, anemia, change in stool consistency, jaundice, nausea or vomiting all are symptoms that may be responsible for this. Moreover even if you identify these, there is a very less chance of identifying at the first 2 stages of cancer as there are almost negligible symptoms and signs for you to get a checkup done.

• Lifestyle – An imbalanced diet (e.g. red and processed meats like beef, lamb) can be responsible for developing risk of colon cancer. Frying and grilling non-vegetarian products at really high temperatures create chemicals which increase the risk. Inactive lifestyles, smoking and excessive alcohol intake, are other risk factors associated with colon cancer.

• Miscellaneous – Age, obesity, Type 2 diabetes, history of bowel disease and history of cancer also increases the risk to a great extent.

There needs to be a clarification regarding the symptoms of both Piles and Colon Cancer or Bowel cancer. As earlier mentioned, Colon cancer and Piles/hemorrhoids have some similar symptoms but these may not be visible in the early stages of colon cancer. They are:

– Blood in stool is the most common symptom seen in both cases
– Rectal bleeding
– Discomfort while sitting and/or strain while passing stool
– Change in bowel movements
– Constipation
– Cramps in lower part of body or abdominal region

These symptoms can confuse anyone but there are few differences.

– Blood over stool in Piles is usually bright red and that may not be the case with Colon cancer as it may be darker.
– Jaundice and loss of appetite is usually related to symptoms of cancer.
– Evidence or polyps during medical tests is the deciding factor in most of the cases of colon cancer and piles.
– Most importantly the symptoms of piles last for a very few weeks and fade away with regular medicine and treatment whereas in case of bowel cancer, it can escalate exponentially if not treated under strict medical guidance.
– The fatality involved with colon cancer is a serious concern and requires immediate medical attention whereas piles are not fatal.

Treatment

As these have lifestyle related symptoms, we will suggest you to adapt to a better lifestyle to evade the risk of Piles/hemorrhoids and Colon Cancer. Nagakesara to prevent and stop bleeding is usually prescribed by Ayurveda doctors. Haritaki is another herb used to treat piles/hemorrhoids. These are usually given in powdered form to the people with the condition and they are 100% organic for those who avoid other medicines and this is a good home-remedy too. Ayurvedic drugs are widely used for piles treatment. Kasiaditaila helps in relieving pain and reduce the effect of piles.
To treat bowel cancer, concerned person(s) may try the ayurvedic treatment over Chemotherapy, Radiation therapy, etc. Use of herbs like Green tea, Ashwagandha, Greater celandine, ginger, garlic and flax seeds all help in the treatment of Colon cancer. Moreover, a healthy balanced diet with fresh fruits and high fiber and protein with good amount of liquids can prevent piles and colon cancer. This is especially for those having genetic or inherited history of these.

How Food Precautions are Helpful in Piles Treatment

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